Problem: What do the following two equations represent? $4x-y = 1$ $12x-3y = 3$
Explanation: Putting the first equation in $y = mx + b$ form gives: $4x-y = 1$ $-y = -4x+1$ $y = 4x - 1$ Putting the second equation in $y = mx + b$ form gives: $12x-3y = 3$ $-3y = -12x+3$ $y = 4x - 1$ The above equations turn into the same equation, so they represent equal lines.